Geneva, March 10 (TIWN) Almost a year since the coronavirus outbreak was declared a global "pandemic", the World Health Organization (WHO) has now clarified that it did use the "highest level of alarm" to urge actions from all countries in January 2020.

Asked at Monday's press conference whether the organization should have used the word "pandemic" sooner, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, said that the WHO announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as early as January 30 last year.  She said that the announcement was indeed the highest level of alarm, or "the highest level that we can under international law."  On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak, later named COVID-19, as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, following two days of discussion by a team of international experts.